Weekend Movies: 5 Reasons to Watch Kung Pow: Enter the Fist

I’ve seen a lot of movies, and this is by far one of my hands-down favorites. I am consistently baffled every time that someone tells me they haven’t seen it. Everyone should watch this one. So, after a week of heavier content, let’s go over five reasons why you should watch Kung Pow: Enter the Fist this weekend.

#1 – The technique of digitally inserting someone into the film and redubbing all of the voices

Redubbing a Hong Kong action flick from the 1970s for comedic effect isn’t a new concept. What’s Up, Tigerlily? did it previously. This one goes a step further and digitally inserts our main character (named Chosen One) into the action, with some new material added into the mix. The result is a plot that revolves around a beautifully strange concept and a ton of over-wrought acting. It’s everything you’ve wanted out of a comedy but didn’t realize.

Gopher chucks. Yep, that just happened.

#2 – The narration

Self-aware narrators are a gamble. Too much detail and they come off as too cutesy or annoying, ala the fairy in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (we like to call her Captain Obvious). Too little detail, and you wonder why on Earth they’re even there in the first place. The narrator of this movie is a total smart ass that occasionally stops to rip on the action. It works for me.

#3 — The characters

The evil Master Pain (a.k.a. Betty) is funny. Ling is so strange that you can’t help but laugh. The real prize here goes to Master Tang, the lovable and altogether wrong martial arts master. Out of everyone’s lines, I find myself quoting Master Tang the most. You’ll see why. Master Tang is the bomb.

Whoa. Really, that’s her name.

#4 – The inappropriate soundtrack

There’s something wonderful about a song that grossly does not fit the action and/or time period. This movie has several instances of this pheonomenon, and the results are gold. Really, it’s like the music just pops up, sits down on your couch and demands that you make it chicken wings. You can’t ignore it and you wind up going with it. At this point, you’re already so far into the feeling of wondering if this is really happening that you can’t help but laugh at it.

#5 – It’s balls-out funny

I generally talk the living hell out of movies and their plot lines, but for this one, I won’t spoil the jokes. And goddamn, there are some wonderful jokes contained in this movie. You will be quoting this movie at all times, trying to see who can do the better impersonation (my husband has been known to refer to me as Master Tang). Here’s a short story about this movie to help convince you without spoiling: I once showed this to someone who had zero desire to watch it. Within 10 minutes, we had to pause the movie because he was in tears and wanted to collect himself. If it’s that funny, you won’t be disappointed.

Okay, I’ll just spoil one…

Sadly, this one takes some digging to find, as it’s not available for rental, streaming or purchase through most services. It’s totally worth it, though. Sound off in the comments below as to your thoughts on this one.